Washington Post's Red-baiting blogger fired for plagiarism
He used to work for Bush. Now, plagiarism has
cost Ben Domenech his latest job.
A former Bush administration aide has resigned from his new role as a blogger for the Washington Post after evidence emerged that much of his previous journalistic work had been the result of plagiarism.
Ben Domenech, 24, had been hired by the newspaper to write what he described as “a blog for the majority of Americans” - enraging some liberals who took it to mean the Post had accepted rightwing claims that its coverage is biased to the left and, therefore, in need of balancing.
But after only three days, six postings and a close examination by leftwing bloggers of Mr Domenech’s previous output, the Red America blog was suspended.
Duncan Black, an influential blogger who uses the pseudonym Atrios, typified the reactions of those who said the affair showed the pitfalls of accepting the conservative argument that the establishment media are inherently biased.
He wrote: “The outrage was over the fact that once again conservatives had succeeded in mau-mauing a mainstream media outlet into balancing reporters with conservatives.”
Is avoidance of ethics part of the job description for Bush aides?
Posted: Mon - March 27, 2006 at 07:03 AM